The Treehouse
by insy-winsy-spider-is-free
Summary: For four people nothing is going right. They abandoned or disappointed their family, they've made huge mistakes, and they're scared to go back. Then they each find an old treehouse. It's old, but it's shelter. But maybe the treehouse isn't just a shelter anymore. Maybe it's a new start. (SUPER SUCKY SUMMARY I'M SORRY)
1. Chapter 1

Note: This is gonna be a multi-chapter story, and I'm lazy so the chapters may be short which I'm sorry about. Basically this is based off of something my girlfriend and I came up with, where four of our favorite characters (John, Dave, Vriska, and Karkat) each have some kind of problem. The story is starting off with Dave and Karkat and John and Vriska come in later. I hope you enjoy!

Dave's POV

Dave Strider sat alone in the bar, looking around. He inwardly sighed as a girl walked up to him and sat next to him. She smiled sweetly at him. She was steady enough to show that she wasn't drunk. Dave smiled back at her and she giggled.

"Hey, what's your name?" She asked him, putting her hand on his chest.

"Dave. What about you?" She grinned at him sliding her fingers across his chest.

"Hannah." She said, she looked at him through her eyelashes. Dave gave a sort of smirk at her and she kissed him,

_Here we go again..._ He thought to himself. He wished he didn't always do this. Why didn't he just push her away? Why didn't he just stop? He didn't know how. This was just something that kept happening. It helped him drown out the pain. Getting drunk and flirting with girls helped him forget that horrible night when he'd lost everything he ever knew. He kissed her back, trying to block out the memories. He pulled away when he heard somebody snort. He looked around. A couple seats away a boy, about his age, was shaking his head. Dave raised his eyebrows as the guy spoke up.

"Why don't you do everyone a favor and get a room?" He said in a crabby tone. "Not everyone wants to see you sucking face." Dave flipped him off.

"You don't have to watch us, asshole." He said coolly. Hannah looked at Dave an innocent look that he knew was fake.

"We could go to my house." She said. Dave forced a smile.

"Sure."

Karkat's POV

Karkat watched them leave the bar in disgust and took another drink of his beer. He hated seeing stuff like that. Couldn't they respect the fact that some people just want to get shit-faced and pretend that everything was fucking dandy, without seeing a couple people mack on each other? It drove him crazy. He just wanted to get drunk or high or something and just forget about everything. The problem was the aftermath. First off, his brother would lecture him for hours. Second, he'd usually have a huge hangover. It sucked. He wished that everything could be fine. Oh well. He took another drink and sighed.

*The next morning*

Karkat woke up to see his older brother staring down at him, his usually impassive face contorted in fury. Fuck. This wasn't going to be good.

"I specifically told you to not get drunk anymore!" He yelled. "And then you come home completely drunk!" Karkat winced.

"Kankri, I have a headache, can you not fucking yell?" He snapped. Kankri glared at him.

"Who's fault is it that you have a headache?"

"The beer's." He said sarcastically.

"Funny." Kankri said, narrowing his eyes. "Want to know what else is funny? You're being kicked out." Karkat's eyes widened.

"WHAT THE FUCK, KANKRI!?" Karkat yelled. Kankri crossed his arms.

"You heard me. You can pack up, and then you're leaving. Until you can get you're drinking under control, you can't come back." Karkat stared at him open-mouthed. Where would he go? Kankri stalked out of the room leaving Karkat in silence.


	2. Chapter 2

-Two months later-

Karkat stiffened under the blanket as he heard somebody climbing the ladder of the treehouse he'd found a couple weeks ago. He'd started staying there after he found out he wouldn't be able to pay for an apartment with the money he had. There were muffled sounds, like somebody had entered it. He kept quiet hoping the person wouldn't see him. He heard a small sigh and peeked out from the edge of the blanket. It was a guy about his age, with light blonde hair, wearing a red sweater. His back was turned so he couldn't see his facial features. The guy was sitting at the doorway, his legs hanging over the edge. His shoulders were slumped, like he was tired. He sat very still. Karkat sat up quietly. The guy didn't notice.

"I wonder what would happen if I jumped..." The guy said softly, definitely talking to himself, but Karkat felt himself freeze. He'd been down the suicidal path before. But he couldn't move. The guy stood up and braced his hand against the door. "Sorry, bro..." He whispered. Karkat unfroze and moved quicker than he ever had. In a second he was grabbing the guy around the waist and pulling him away from the edge. The guy let out a cry of surprise and swung at Karkat, but missed. Karkat spun the guy around to face him.

"What the fuck were you doing?!" Karkat snapped at him. The other man's face paled, his mouth opened then closed. He looked at Karkat in shock for a few moments before managing to stammer out something

'Who the fuck are you?" He asked. Karkat narrowed his eyes.

"I asked a question first." He said.

"What does it look like I was doing?" The guy asked coolly. "And you should calm down."

"It looked like you were going to fucking jump. Which is not something you should be calm about." Karkat said. "Why the hell would you fucking do something like that?" The guy held his gaze, even through the shades he was wearing.

"Because it's not like I have something to live for." He answered quietly.

"Bullshit. There's always something to live for."

"Then tell me, what do I have? My family probably hates me. I don't have a real home. I do stupid stuff all the time. What do I have to live for? Coffee? Ramen? Fluffy baby crows?" Karkat paused for a second. Was this guy serious?

"If that's what you like then yes." He snapped.

"Well those aren't good enough reasons. I'm tired of life. I just want to die." Karkat bit his lip. He'd heard similar words before. He'd said them.

"Listen. I know how utterly cliche this sounds but things can still get better." He said softly. "What's your name?" The guy didn't answer for a moment, probably deciding what to say.

"My name's Dave." He said finally. "Dave Strider."

"I'm Karkat." He told Dave. Dave shrugged.

"Why'd you save me?" He asked. Karkat sighed.

"I've tried to commit suicide before." He said softly. Dave went silent for a moment. Then he let out a sigh.

"Well this isn't my first time trying it." Dave admitted. Karkat looked down.

"What was the first time?" He asked. "If you don't mind me asking." Dave shrugged again.

"I tried to jump off the roof of my apartment building. I went up to the roof and... I was at the edge when I heard my brother called me. I stepped off the edge but he caught my arm and pulled me back up." Karkat gave him a sideways look.

"You said your family probably hates you. Somebody pulling you back to safety doesn't sound like hate to me." Dave gave a bitter laugh.

"I disappeared on my family. With them, disappearing makes you basically a stranger. We were supposed to stick together. First my oldest brother, he went out to Hollywood and became a director. Bro, my second oldest brother, he basically raised me and Dirk. I'm the youngest. Dirk's a couple years older than me."

"My older brother kicked me out of the house because I drank too much." Karkat told him. "My dad's a preacher, and he's never home. My mom died when I was a baby."

"My parent's both died when I was a baby. Like I said, Bro basically raised me." Then he looked away. "You know, if you want I can go. I mean, if you're staying here, then I don't wanna bug you."

"I've been on my own for around two months." He said. "I could use some company." The edge of Dave's mouth quirked.

"Two months? Try three years, you pansy." Karkat's eyes widened.

"Three years?! How old are you?" He asked.

"Twenty-two." Dave answered. "I left when I was nineteen."

"I can do math." Karkat snapped then felt bad. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Whatever. Doesn't matter." Okay so the guy was kind of an ass. But he'd almost just killed himself so Karkat cut him some slack. They were silent for a few moments until Dave broke the silence. "You been living here?" Karkat nodded.

"Nowhere else to go." Dave shrugged. "You can stay if you want."

"Thanks." This time he sounded a bit different, a bit relieved. Maybe he hadn't actually wanted to die.

Just thought that he deserved it.


End file.
